My Fault
by dizzyS
Summary: Alfred and Arthur spend a day at the beach but when Alfred decides to prank Arthur into going to swim with him, things go wrong.


This is something I wrote before under a different setting and more characters but due to inaccuracies I decided to re-write it.

Note that my native language is not english- any error/mistake please tell me.

* * *

"Come on Arthur, let's go to the water!"

The older man just sighed, putting the parasol up. After his insistence, he agreed to go to the beach with his boyfriend Alfred but he was already having second thoughts about it. It wasn't like Arthur didn't like it; to tell the truth he kind of enjoyed the warm feeling of laying in the sand, it made him fuzzy and relaxed, and the fact that it was an almost desert beach made him feel much at ease. No, his problem wasn't the beach itself.

"Arthur, _come on_!" this time Alfred grabbed his arm, trying to pull him in the direction of the water; a couple looked at them amusingly.

"Alfred, please, behave," he said and grabbed the sunscreen bottle.

"But…"

"No buts. Come here, let's put you some sunscreen", holding the bottle, he motioned for the taller man to sit in the towel he had just put in the sand and Alfred obeyed, pouting. Arthur made sure to put a lot more than it was necessary. When he was done, Alfred got up and took the bottle off Arthur's hand.

"Now it's my turn to put you some, or you'll have a sunburn and we won't be able to…" he started, grinning but Arthur interrupted him, a tint of red in his cheeks.

"Shut up, you little git! For your information I'm not taking my t-shirt!"

"C'mon, you should take it! How are you supposed go to swim dressed like that?" he put the sunscreen bottle away and tried once again to pull Arthur to the water.

"No way! I mean… Alfred, just… I prefer to stay here for now and read this book… yes… maybe later, I'll go," he excused himself.

Alfred looked disappointed and left alone for the ocean but after half an hour he was bored out of his mind— Arthur wouldn't definitely play with him. In a desperate attempt he threw Arthur the ball he had brought, but that only made the man fumble in annoyance. Just when he was about to give up he had an idea.

Even underneath the parasol's shade Arthur was hot, but relaxed and his eyes were growing heavy as a pleasant breeze run through his hair. However a yell from the sea direction made his heart jump and he got up in a glance.

"Help! Please…" Alfred was waving his arms from where he was in the water, his screams piercing the peaceful silence from a few moments ago. Arthur's eyes widened. _Alfred was drowning._

"Alfred!"

Without thinking, Arthur dropped the book and run to the sea without even taking his t-shirt off, but upon seeing the waves coming in his direction, he suddenly halted.

 _I need to do this, I need to save him… but…_

"Please… Arthur…" Alfred submerged and didn't come back up. At that moment Arthur made up his mind.

 _I will do this!_

Entering in the ocean, he shivered as the waves touched his feet, even though the water was not cold. Fighting against his fear he got deeper and deeper, his body full of adrenaline, whilst trying to find Alfred's body. _No, not his body, just Alfred_ , he thought and the tears fell to his already wet face. But then his feet lost the ground and he found himself unable to be afloat. Trying to kick, he sensed his whole body being swallowed. Unable to hold his breath anymore, he tried to inhale but the only thing he felt in his lungs was the salty water. And then just silence and darkness.

 _Alfred…_

* * *

Alfred saw Arthur get up from his towel and shout his name. He saw him hesitate before entering the sea. But he only acknowledged something was wrong when he emerged a few meters away from the place he had pretended to drown and the older man was kicking hard in a weird, almost funny way, before disappearing in the waves.

"Arthur!"

Alfred swam as fast as he could and submerged again, opening his eyes to try to catch a glimpse of the Englishman. Some seconds passed (to Alfred they looked like hours) until he finally spotted a dark silhouette, a few meters ahead of him. Arthur was floating and if not drowning, we would actually look peaceful; his eyebrows didn't even have that _you-git_ form. Grabbing the man by his waist he swam quickly to the surface.

The couple from before had come to help and while the man rushed to help Alfred carrying the unconscious Arthur, his girlfriend (or wife— Alfred didn't care much at the moment) was already calling for an ambulance. They laid Arthur in the warm sand, Alfred noticing his blue-tinted lips. He checked his neck for a pulse, finding a weak but steady pounding.

"Thank god… he's alive…" he breathed, still tired and then checked for a sign that the man was breathing. He panicked when he found none.

"Oh god…" and he breathed into the lifeless man, whereas the stranger didn't wait for any sign from him and immediately started to pump the man's chest, each compression making water come out of Arthur's mouth. They did the cycle three times and exchanged places, but Arthur remained unmoving, his pale figure contrasting with the sun's warm glow. However they kept going; thirty compressions, two breaths. Alfred wasn't going to give up. At some point the woman appeared at their side, announcing the ambulance was coming.

"Don't you fuckin' dare to die on me!" Alfred abruptly yelled, starting to punch Arthur's chest, feeling his ribs crack upon the contact. The man then looked at his partner, a hopeless expression forming in his face and Alfred knew what he meant by that…

Suddenly, a series of loud coughs erupted from Arthur, and Alfred was quick enough to turn him to his side, helping him to purge the water from his mouth and nose. An ambulance could be heard in the distance.

"Oh my god, Arthur, can you hear me? Arthur?" Alfred tried to shake the Englishman awake but Arthur just coughed, laying unresponsive and shaking, but finally breathing. The paramedics arrived and Arthur was laid in a gurney, hooked to an IV and a breathing mask. A still anxious Alfred thanked the couple one hundred times before leaving behind the health team.

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

" _Please… Arthur…"_

"Hey, hey, baby, calm down, everything is okay!" Arthur tried to sit up but a pair of strong arms made him lay down again in the soft bed. He didn't know where he was. The last thing he remembered before the darkness were the cries of Alfred.

"Alfred… you're okay… I…" he started but Alfred hugged him.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, baby, so sorry!" Alfred was bawling.

"Don't cry, Alfred, please…" the American let him go and sniffled, drying his eyes with his sleeve.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired and sore," Arthur admitted, "But what happened? Who saved us? Why are you apologizing?"

"I did… I saved you."

"But you were drowning…"

"Actually," he looked uncomfortable, "I wasn't drowning."

"What?"

"It was my fault! I'm sorry! You wouldn't swim with me and I thought… if I pretended to drown, you'd come! But I didn't know you couldn't swim and I almost killed you!" tears were spilling from his eyes again.

"Oh…" was all what Arthur managed to say, the story finally making sense in his mind.

"Will you forgive me?"

"Please, just… don't do it again," Alfred nodded, and hugged Arthur for a second time, uttering a weak sorry repeatedly. But suddenly there was a pause and his eyes lit up when he got up from the hug.

"Again? Does this mean there will be another time?"

Arthur just stared at him, astonished at how he could go from a grown man to a child in less than five seconds, before replying.

"I guess…" he smiled with a yawn, "but you need to teach me how to swim."

"Deal!"


End file.
